Roger Federer saw off Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/1) on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors. Federer had to save a set point in the ninth game of the first set as Nieminen fought hard to try and win the first set of his career against the world No. 2 after losing 18 dating back to 2002 in Moscow.
Nieminen’s brave game failed him as Federer finally took the opening set and then recovered from an early break in the second for 4-4. He then raced away through a second decider to convert on the first of five more match points, advancing in just over 90 minutes.
The Finn now stands 0-10 in the series where he had said just to win a set might have felt like a victory as the pair played a repeat of last year’s final.
Italian Simone Bolelli, beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2 while James Blake kept up his hopes of making the ATP season-ending championship when he defeated Spain’s Oscar Hernandez 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4.
Second seed David Nalbandian needed nearly two and a half hours to subdue qualifier Kristof Vliegen, posting a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7/4) win.
■ ST PETERSBURG OPEN
AFP, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
Andy Murray, top seed and defending champion, breezed past Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and into the last eight on Thursday.
Murray won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour one minute to record his second win over Gulbis in as many meetings.
Also on Thursday Serb Janko Tipsarevic ousted Jeremy Chardy of France in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and Kazakhstani qualifier Andrey Golubev upset crowd favorite Marat Safin, winning 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first quarter-final.
Mischa Zverev of Germany upset another Russian Mikhail Youzhny, seeded fourth, 7-5, 6-4.
■ LINZ OPEN
AP, LINZ, AUSTRIA
Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Vera Zvonareva eased into the quarter-finals with straight-sets wins on Thursday.
Ivanovic downed Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-4, 6-2 while Zvonareva routed Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2, 6-0.
Zvonareva dropped serve in the opening set against Llagostera Vives and saved five more breakpoints, but was in control afterward.
Fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova defeated Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 7-6 (7) to set up a quarter-final match against Agnieszka Radwanska.
Petrova was broken twice while serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, and the Russian missed four match points in the tiebreaker before finally converting.
Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine was the only unseeded player to make the quarter-finals by beating fourth-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
In other matches Marion Bartoli of France beat Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3 and Flavia Pennetta of Italy defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS